Image copyright EPA Image caption Thousands of people protested outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona Eight sacked Catalan ministers have been remanded in custody by a Spanish high court judge over the region’s push for independence. Prosecutors had asked the judge to detain eight of the nine former regional government members who turned up for [...]

Image copyright UK Parliament Labour has suspended Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins after an allegation, believed to be of sexual harassment, was received by the party. The party has not given any details of the nature of the claims but the BBC understands it relates to an incident first reported a couple of years ago. [...]

Media captionThe Bank of England may lift rates twice more over three years For the first time in more than 10 years, the Bank of England has raised interest rates. The official bank rate has been lifted from 0.25% to 0.5%, the first increase since July 2007. It is likely to rise twice more over [...]